Debate contributions by Konstantinos ARVANITIS

Mr President, what have we heard from the far right today? I mean, it's really unhistorical, but I'll stay on the subject. I really wonder why we have to deal with arms issues, issues of international trade agreements. The whole side here, hand in hand with Mrs von der Leyen, is always asking for urgent procedures. But when it comes to issues of discrimination, we have been freezing this very serious issue since 2008. Seventeen years and we never bring this issue to the European Parliament in order to complete the process and move forward. While the Polish Presidency stated that this issue is among its priorities, with the intention of the Commission to remove it from the 2025 Work Programme, we are again on a spectrum – indeed – with the risk of the issue being permanently withdrawn. What bothers the right and the far right? All right, history has proven that it bothers her. We know that. But do we call for protection against discrimination on the basis of religion or belief, disability, age, sexual orientation to be extended beyond the scope of work at European Union level, and does this bother you? Do you talk so much about Christianity? Does that bother you? I insist on that. We are talking about European values. We must not have read the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Should we take another look at Article 21, which explicitly stipulates non-discrimination? Do we not understand that it is precisely these urgent political decisions that lead to the disintegration of the welfare state, to the impoverishment and further marginalization of our peoples? This certainly reinforces fascism and that is why they play in this policy. So as long as these distinctions exist, as long as there is a system that creates conditions for people not to be able to breathe, there will be the left to defend precisely these fundamental values.

Madam President, therefore, with all that we have heard, we cannot deny that we will be against simplification. We have no reason not to support it, even with reservations. But the main problem – the main problem – is the Common Agricultural Policy and the philosophy of this Community agricultural policy. It is the Commission's trade policy that, unilaterally and in a coup d'état, Mrs von der Leyen is speeding up the European Union-Mercosur agreement, ignoring the European Parliament and the national parliaments, with consequences that are disastrous for the entire primary sector, especially in my home country, Greece. It is, in short, the decline in agricultural income that is often aggravated by the mismanagement of national governments, as demonstrated by the great scandal of OPEKEPE, which is the main and absolute responsibility of Mr. Mitsotakis' government, as at least the European Prosecutor states in her conclusion. We are talking here about a criminal organization with a vertical structure. So we must not forget the natural disasters that come as a result of climate change. Yeah, well, yeah. But let's not forget about the elephant in the room.

Mr President, Commissioner, as I mentioned when you presented your proposal, we are not entirely satisfied with it. I'd call it half an effort. There are positive things, though, and I have to be honest. I consider the creation of a European centre for democratic resilience to be a positive element. The protection of journalists and the media is a positive element. Educating citizens in the recognition of information attempts to intervene is a very positive element. But there is no mention of attempts to interfere in European politics by actors other than Russia, which exists. For example, the American factor. We had a big issue in the German elections, as well as the scandals of surveillance of politicians and other people. I do not and must not forget that Pegasus, Predator and later Paragon – all surveillance malware that has occupied the European public sphere – have the same origin outside the European Union. We have a convergence of the origin of crime. This is where we pretend we don't see it. Finally, in our opinion, there are no sympathetic and unsympathetic invaders. There are intruders.

Commissioner, Madam President, following the recent very serious allegations, firstly, about the action of agents in the permanent Hungarian delegation, when the current Hungarian Commissioner was at the head, and secondly, about the attempt to trap the German Green colleague, Mr Freund, I am very afraid that we will have to investigate with the European Shield that we have set up to secure the external borders. Should we expand it and do it for our internal borders as well? Something is happening here, in the hinterland of the Union. I see that the Hungarian Commissioner in Mr Orbán's close circle denies that he knew anything. I didn't expect anything different. Who would expect such self-incrimination? I think Mrs Sippel and Mrs Wilmès said it very well. In all the Member States of the Union, espionage is a very serious criminal offence with terrible moral depravity, precisely because it affects the very core of the security and independence of our Union to an existential degree. We therefore call on the Commission, Commissioner, to immediately mobilise all available mechanisms, to coordinate international police and judicial cooperation, to ensure the confidentiality of the investigative process, to inform us and to check these extremely worrying allegations.

Madam President, Commissioner, sometimes, when I hear fellow interlocutors, it is as if they are supporting their parties, and not the issue of the rule of law. In recent months, therefore, we have witnessed a continuous deterioration in the main pillars of the rule of law in Bulgaria. Bulgaria's Attorney General herself openly speaks of attacks against judges handling cases of high public interest. He denounces the leadership of the High Court of Cassation and Justice that, in collusion with government actors, it undermines the Constitution. The government, on the pretext of protecting privacy, is tabling an unacceptable bill that is brutally hurting journalism. Investigative journalism is locked in. I'm a journalist, I understand. The case of the arrest of the mayor of Varna is fully in line with Erdoğan's choices in Istanbul. What do we not understand? We would therefore point out: our countries have voluntarily joined the European Union and have made specific commitments. The Union is not an investment fund. It has principles, values and rules. These common values are our commitment to democratic principles. To make us all aware even now, we call on the Commission to take immediate countermeasures and activate the conditionality mechanism for breaches of the rule of law wherever they occur.

Mr President, Commissioner, 35 years I have been a journalist, 35 years in this job. I ask a simple question: How far is Valletta from Rome and Rome from Athens? Eight years ago, Daphne was murdered. four years ago, in Athens, George Karaivaz; A few days ago, in Rome, there was an attempted homicide against investigative journalist Ranucci. How far away are our cities? The day before yesterday, journalist Nikos Aslanidis experienced an attempted kidnapping by the Turkish state, by an accession state. We here rightly honor her and award the Daphne Caruana Galizia Awards in her memory. In her memory or in memory of the inability of the political system to intervene? One of the initiators of this award, our former colleague, Stelios Kouloglou, a former MEP, now a journalist, is being persecuted in Greece. Justice in Daphne's case has not been granted. Her family is still fighting abusive lawsuits against Daphne, eight years after her death. Listen to the voice of journalists, to the voice of their unions, to the truth professionals who are being murdered as we speak in Gaza, in Ukraine, in Slovakia, in the Netherlands, in Malta. As we speak, journalists from Documento, tvxs, PressProject, Reporters United and the Journal of Editors are being persecuted by government or business interests. The left demanded: establishment of an institutional response structure to protect journalists and journalism with rapid response protocols and early warning and prevention mechanisms; constitutional reform to enshrine journalism as one of the pillars of democratic society, explicitly requiring states to guarantee and protect it; and to improve our SLAPPs directive and to incorporate it directly into the national laws of those Member States that do not understand.

Mr President, Commissioner, freedom of the press is at risk from the interventions of authoritarian governments in principle, we know that. The day before yesterday, journalist Nikos Aslanidis in Turkey, who is a member of the Union of Macedonia-Thrace Editors, was arrested, deported, not to say actually kidnapped. But press freedom is also at risk from tech giants' business models. In this case, there is a big question. Who is legislating? Google believes that it should legislate in our Union. We have another point of view. Perhaps this is what Mr Trump thinks: that entrepreneurs, business interests must legislate and citizens must execute. No, this is another type of democracy, we have defended it, we have other principles, we have other notions. We agree with the fine. I think it is also small, however, the key question is not whether we will increase the fine but whether we will put in place rules that are essential for the functioning of the press. In order to make a proposal, the money we will receive should not go into a wallet of the European Union. Create a specific fund to support media and journalists: a special press fund, which we need. That's our proposition.

Mr President, Commissioner, if we evaluate the current Common Agricultural Policy, we will see its failure, because it is bureaucratic, bureaucratic, far from the immediate needs of small and medium-sized producers, with no link to farm productivity, with reduced resources and no clear direction. Its structure generates opacity, mismanagement, lost resources – not to mention the scandals, both in Greece and elsewhere, but 3.5 billion agricultural subsidies ended up with a handful of billionaires. There is indeed a need to simplify the rules, but they must be watertight in the face of corruption, with the clear aim of ensuring the survival of producers, ensuring the production of local products and, of course, protecting the environment. In order to be useful, we, the Left, ask to prevent a further reduction of the budget for the CAP in the draft Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034. We call for the separate budget line of the CAP to be maintained as the Common Agricultural Policy. Any thought of national resource management without a common policy must be stopped before it can even be expressed.

Madam President, it is a difficult day today, a difficult anniversary, but, really, it all started two years ago or 70 years ago? We all agree here that the Israeli hostages must be released. Do we agree? All of them? Because we demand, as we demand, the immediate release of all civilians, of the civilians of peace arrested by the piracy of the war criminal Netanyahu, as we demand the immediate release of the Palestinian people from the Israeli occupation army. Of course, once you have taken for granted the occupying army in Cyprus, a Member State of the European Union, you can very easily accept the occupying army also in Palestine – possibly tomorrow also in Ukraine. Deal is for you – for you – all this. So we are very cautious; As we are negative about Mr. Trump's plan in Gaza. Will Trump bring peace to Gaza? Where is the United Nations Security Council, where is the European Union in its own proposal for a peace plan? Will Mr Blair – another war criminal – guarantee security and peace in the region? For all these reasons, then, I think there is an urgent need to bring all democratic forces together in this direction.

Madam President, Commissioner, the situation in Slovakia comes down to the negative trend for the rule of law in Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Greece. This worries us deeply. There's one word I think we'll agree on: corruption. Corruption threatens democracy. The recent constitutional revision of the Slovak Government clearly threatens equality, the integrity of the administration of justice, while undermining the legal protection of the financial interests of our Union against criminal acts. These reforms directly challenge the rule of law, democracy and the protection of fundamental human rights in Slovakia. They limit the application of the European acquis and international treaties, affecting private and family life. I am particularly concerned about the impact on children, women, journalists, the LGBTIQ community, whose rights are threatened under the guise of protecting national identity, an old rotten ideological product. Commissioner, I agree with the conditionality tool. I have to tell you that the Left will be by your side as long as you don't back down.

Madam President, Commissioner, protecting European democracy from outside interference and information manipulation is necessary, undeniable and urgent. At the meetings of our special committee we have heard the Right with all its manifestations trying to turn the conversation elsewhere. There's an issue. But it is not a one-sided matter. There's an issue with Russia, that's clear. But is Russia the only one causing problems in the European Union? So, about the Musk interventions, about the interventions of the United States of America in the elections in Germany, did we not hear anything? As far as our perception is concerned, Europe is our home and we protect it from everyone. That is, there are no good invaders and no bad invaders. There are malicious intruders, and here we protect rights. And one last thing, Commissioner, because as I have heard from colleagues, the rule of law is also your responsibility, it is a top issue for democracy. The answers we receive from your office to these rule of law questions, unfortunately, are vague and unclear. This saddens me, and I close in an absolute and non-negotiable way for democracy, we say that the shield of protection goes exclusively through democracy.

Madam President, Commissioner, the strategic orientation of the common agricultural policy is very important for our farmers, for all citizens. For the distribution of European funds, I would not suggest that Mr Weber and you, Commissioner, request Mr Mitsotakis' conscientious software from Greece. The CAP is our main financing tool for food production. But for us, the Greeks, the European citizens of the South, it is a decisive factor in addressing the demographic problem. What common agricultural policy do we want? The distinct CAP budget line must be kept separate to prevent any reduction in the budget. There is a need to redirect Union resources and policies that are linked to production and encourage it without deducting resources for armaments expenditure. Particular attention shall be paid to the enhancement of mountainous, less-favoured, island areas and quality products. Strengthen traditional farming methods, environmentally friendly, as well as coastal fishing. We are of course against the Mercosur agreement and, of course, this unacceptable coup d'état by Mrs von der Leyen, which did not get the approval of the European Parliament. We have proposed to you the creation of a fund to adapt agriculture to the climate crisis with resources outside the CAP. These are the proposals of the left.

Madam President, thank you very much for the cooperation, for this very nice work and I will come to the matter. Today we are discussing the report on the accession course of North Macedonia, which in itself is welcome good news, as the previous report never reached the plenary. The accession of the neighbour to the Union goes exclusively, I note, through the Prespa Agreement. It is an international agreement, without asterisks, language games and adventurous gnaws of the international agreement. The integration of all those who wish to have a European perspective goes through the fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria. Without double standards, without hidden agendas and always based on the interests of the peoples of Europe and our neighbourhood. We will always remember how the historic moment was this agreement of Greece and North Macedonia with the signatures of Tsipras and Zaev. We are firmly in favour of the accession course of North Macedonia and the Western Balkans, provided that the European acquis is respected. I therefore call on the European Commission to show the same zeal for the Western Balkans as it does for Eastern Europe.

Madam President, Commissioner, we agree with your assessment. Children must be protected from intolerance, from fear, racism, fascism, from selective rights for the few, from corruption, from hatred. That's how we know, that's how I understand it. Not as an authoritarian government understands it. In the 21st century, you cannot say no to love or freedom or solidarity or inclusion. Mr Orbán is fragmenting, step by step, all the achievements of today’s European society and the European values that have been won with many struggles and many hardships – and with blood, I would say. Commissioner, we call for and demand the immediate launch of new infringement procedures against Hungary. Neither freedom nor the acquis communautaire can be banned in Budapest. The Members of the European Parliament of the Democratic Arc will be there. We will be in Budapest on June 28th. To give political cover to people who claim the right to freedom and existence. Rendezvous in Budapest!

Mr President, Commissioner, you have finally come to the European Parliament. The Left has worked hard to accept our request. Honestly, I wonder what the political forces that refused you wanted to protect you from. We denounce the exclusion of MEPs, and we denounce the exclusion of non-attached Members in this debate. Commissioner, the Commission was aware of what preceded the Tempi crime. He knew and did not act as he should. The responsibilities of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the Prime Minister himself and DG MOVE are very heavy. Since 2017, there has been an investigation into the critical and non-existent contract between the Ministry and OSE. It took six years for Greece to reach the Court of Justice of the European Union. After the crime in Tempi, the contract was submitted in a hurry and panic and the case was withdrawn, but without checking the compatibility with Directive 2012/34/EU. How is this justified when DG MOVE itself now raises objections to the content? I'm asking for an answer. In 2023, ERA finds a clear absence of effective safety oversight on the Greek railway. Nevertheless, the Commission does not open the infringement procedure until December 2024 – with your signature, I note this. Instead of lobbying, it not only welcomes but also funds an action plan without a legal basis. Give me an answer for that, too. The EODASAAM shall operate with members appointed directly by the Minister. In other words, does the Commission – I ask – understand the concept of functional independence of the body? A report was issued by the President, who had a legal relationship with the Railway Regulatory Authority. Was there a conflict of interest of the President examined? A government order – what Ms Vozeberg did not see – was issued by the State Secretary to the Prime Minister at the scene of the crime, the site of the accident, and a number of crucial pieces of evidence were destroyed. I was absent from the committee. A safety certificate was issued by ERA to Hellenic Train. Conditional certificate. For ERA and the Commission, can the protection of human life be conditional? I ask, Commissioner. Today, June 17, 2025, who is responsible for the safety of Greek railways, for workers and passengers? The families of the 57 dead – and a whole people – are asking for truth and oxygen.

Mr President, Commissioner, you have told us that we have done a very good job. Thank you very much. And what did you do with this job? That's the big question. In the last term we set up the committee of inquiry, we made findings, we worked a lot, and in 2025 we have Paragon in Italy. Let me inform you that the judicial investigation in Greece into the surveillance scandal through the Predator software is becoming an institutional parody. The Deputy Prosecutor of the Supreme Court ruled out any responsibility of the National Intelligence Service, which – listen, listen – is part of the office of the Prime Minister of Greece, and called it a ‘coincidence’ that 27 persons, including ministers, MEPs, politicians and journalists, were simultaneously being monitored by the Predator at the behest of the National Intelligence Service. Although he tracked down the individuals behind the software, he only prosecuted them for a misdemeanor. Why is it? Because prosecution for a felony would lead to an investigation by a court-appointed investigator, which the government did not want. Thus, one of the biggest political scandals was closed without ever passing into the hands of an interrogator. The example of Poland could, of course, be followed by Greece. I think we're meteors, really, and we're unprotected when the organs don't take a stand and don't do their job.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, this is not the first time and unfortunately it will not be the last time that we will be concerned about Mr Orbán's recidivist government, which is escalating authoritarianism in Hungary and is steadily moving away from democratic values. When we show tolerance, we get results like this. After the legal apartheid of the withdrawal of citizenship by political opponents of Mr Orban, after the abolition of gender recognition and the ban on pride, after the legalisation of state pogroms against vulnerable social groups, after the public support for Netanyahu's ethnic cleansing, with yesterday's decision to leave the International Criminal Court at the top, I think that the Orban government will also pass a law on the alleged transparency of public life, with the real aim of stigmatising, discrediting, silencing the opposing voices, dismantling what remains of democracy in Hungary. These aren't just annoying thorns. It is an undemocratic policy. He is opposed to what the Union stands for, at least in words. We, the Left, call for the immediate activation of the new infringement procedures, a new suspension of disbursement of funds and the political marginalisation of anti-democratic Orbanists in the EU institutions.

Madam President, today the Europe of principles and values is indifferently watching the genocide of the Palestinian people by the war criminal, Benjamin Netanyahu. The far right and the right are trying to rewrite history. It all started last year. No, we do not have an occupying army and Israeli-occupied territories in Palestine. We have no deportees to Palestine. I am talking about genocide. It is a crime against humanity. The disgraceful attitude of European leaders and von der Leyen towards complicity in crime is shameful. The European Parliament can save, even at this last moment, the dignity of Europe and the lives of children. We call for the immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a ceasefire, a viable political solution, the reintroduction of the 1967 borders, and, of course, a ban on arms exports to Israel. We can say it out loud, Palestine has a voice and has a right to exist. Freedom in Palestine.

Madam President, 80 years since the end of World War II and 80 years since the great anti-fascist victory. Let us remember the causes. Let's reread the story; We must not rewrite history as interests demand, so that we do not repeat the same mistakes because this will constitute a crime in crime. Let us remember that the contradictions of capital in Europe and America strengthened, financed and giganticized fascism and Nazism on our continent. To remember and honor the victims of this atrocity: Jews, communists, socialists, democrats, anti-Nazi democrats, the LGBTIQ community, the different, the helpless. Victims of the ideology of misery about pure race, Aryan race. To honor the millions of victims, ordinary soldiers, young folk children who did not enjoy life. To honor the partisans, the rebels, the women, the men who went out into the mountains to resist and face the Nazi fascist atrocity. My country, a small country, lost one-seventh of its population. At least 650,000 were executed, starved to death, murdered. All the Greek treasure was stolen and burnt hearths, burnt villages, martyr villages were left behind. On the occasion of today's anniversary, here, from the podium of the European Parliament, I bring back the issue of Greek claims concerning compensation and reparations for damage suffered by my country and its citizens during the First and Second World Wars, for war reparations for the victims, the descendants of the victims of the German Occupation, the repayment of the occupation loan and the return of the stolen and illegally removed archaeological and cultural goods. From my country, Greece, which stood up to Nazism and fascism. It is fair; Europe without justice does not exist.

Madam President, Commissioner, let us begin with the fundamental: The data belongs to us. The data belongs to the citizens. Secondly, social media is not just – as I have heard here – another market, a technological product or a problem – as I have heard from my conservative colleague. It is a public space, so we are clearly raising the issues of citizens' rights here. The Irish authorities were correct in imposing a fine on TikTok. However, fines have been imposed in the past, but the problem seems to be growing. This is evidenced by many recent examples of systematic and targeted social media malpractice that goes beyond consumer profiling. From the shadowy interference in Romania to Musk's open support for the German far right in the German elections, the platforms prove to be problematic and, of course, play a role in manipulation. New legislative, executive and diplomatic initiatives are therefore needed to strengthen the citizen in this new situation.

I won't argue. I won't argue with you. To note just to know that the price of tomatoes in my own country, in Greece starts from 10 minutes from the field and arrives from the field and reaches the shelf 10 times more expensive. So we have both impoverished farmers and poor consumer citizens essentially. I think that what we call the basic control mechanism of the Union is needed here, because we have a lot of questions about how we produce, how we distribute, what happens to the monopolies that actually distribute food, as we also have a different price. In France, in Greece, in Italy, the pleasant. It is.

Madam President, Commissioner, thank you very much for listening to me. A few weeks ago, Mrs Metsola said here that "Europe must stand up today, or they risk ignoring it tomorrow". I agree. But there is also a saying in my country that says, "A fasting bear does not dance." In other words – to make it clearer – ‘stature’ also requires a full stomach. Instead, Europe-wide – after almost a century – the massive concern of a nightmarish food crisis is returning. But what's the big difference with those dark times? At the time, the crisis was due – for different reasons – to food scarcity and the crisis of capitalism. Today, in the societies of supposed abundance, the shelves of the great merchants are full of food, but the pocket money of the citizen cannot meet. Expensive food, poor food, expensive housing, low wages. How, then, are we going to stand up with food dependence on third countries, such as Mercosur-type agreements, with impoverished producers-farmers, weak economic citizens, with tolerance for the super-profits of wholesalers, intermediaries and monopolies? So, growth for all or for a few? Growth for everyone except the cliques.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, everything finally has its explanation. When you tolerate extreme anti-democratic behaviour within the Union, how will you condemn Mr Erdoğan, or when you have a hypocritical sensibility? The Orbán government is continuing to deepen authoritarianism in Hungary. It is systematically attacking democracy and human rights under the tolerance of the European leadership, and of course Mrs von der Leyen. Now he's mounting a despicable legal atrocity. It strips its political opponents of their citizenship, creating a regime of legal apartheid. It abolishes gender recognition and bans pride, legitimizing state pogroms against the LGBTIQ community. It establishes martial law with a permanent state of emergency that allows it to govern in perpetuity with decrees and emergency legislation. These are not just undemocratic measures. It is the organized marginalization of European citizens, of Hungarian citizens. We call for the immediate activation of new infringement procedures and a new moratorium on the disbursement of funds. No Hungarians, no women, no men, no European citizens under authoritarian rule. Rendezvous in June in Budapest.